Archive for the ‘Fun’ Category

Over the past week, I have spent a lot of time editing films and scripts. In fact, the more time I spend working on film-based projects, the more energized I feel about them. With two in-the-can, I only have two more projects to finish. It’s a good thing I have just under two weeks until deadline on the more important of the two.

However, with all the emphasis being placed on travel-show videos, it doesn’t mean that I don’t get out and have a little fun. Today, I had a few free minutes and elected to stop by my favorite furniture store in Dongtan. Not because I wanted to go shopping, but because I wanted to play with puppies.

Jo and I have been blessed with this store and the nicest dog I’ve met in a long time. Every time I pass by the store, I spend a few minutes giving her love, and now she recognizes me. When she sees me coming down the street, her tail starts wagging and then gives me tons of kisses when I get there.

I had been concerned, since over the past few weeks she hasn’t been around. I soon realized that she finally gave birth. Now, she has four lovely babies with her as well. I’ve gone back twice now and will probably continue to play with these little guys until they’re sold or given away. Part of me wants to take them home, because, as you’ll see in the video, they are filled with cuteness!

The weekend has come and gone, and with it SeoulTube 2010! I had originally wanted to host a gathering in 2009, but never got around to organizing it. I wanted 2010 to be different, especially since there’s been a surge of great people coming into Korea making videos.

I thought it would be great if 20 or 30 people would come out and mingle. That’s not what happened! Instead over 60 arrived at Banpo Park, including a rep from Google/YouTube Korea.

As with my attendance at the 2008 San Francisco gathering, I opted not to take out my camera and just experience the event. I’m glad I did, since this gathering was quite different from that one and others my friends have attended or hosted. What I mean by this is usually 80% of the attendees make videos and everyone wants to make collaborations. At our event, I figure only 20% of the attendees made videos.

That ratio was surprising, but very cool. Because I really wanted to reach out and meet the viewing audience. As YouTubers, one can see view counts and read/respond to comments, but rarely do you ever see and interact with someone who doesn’t make videos. Having this opportunity to sit down and get to know people made everything worth while.

The other amazing thing about the event, was that we had people traveling from all over Korea to gather. I was thrilled to finally meet people who I’ve been watching for a long time, but were in other cities. I only wished I had more time and the event was longer.

A sincere thank you to everyone who came out and especially to Hyunwoo Sun for making the event a great success.

The short mini-vacation, known as Chuseok week, is now over and I must return to work… for one day.

It has been a glorious week away from work, aside from the rain. What’s been best about the week, is that Jo and I made the most of it, taking side trips and visiting such iconic places as the DMZ and Everland.

We had originally wanted to hit Everland earlier in the week, but rain forced us to delay our plans, so we went on Thursday. This was very fortunate, since at the park we met up with Robert.

The day was a blast and such a great place to return to as well (for me). We weren’t alone in our plans to take the last day of vacation at Everland, as thousands joined us. In fact, at one point, we saw an MBC helicopter taking video of the day.

I think what made the week even more special for me was that I left the camera behind and enjoyed it as a real vacation. This weekend, Jo and I have a few plans (ie, video and cultural trips), but the big one is Seoul Tube. I am really looking forward to this event, as it is shaking up to be really huge. As of last night, we had 84 RSVPs on the Facebook Event. That is far more than I ever thought would come.

Since I have been away for so long, I feel kind out of the loop on all things Internet. What’s up in your neck of the woods?

It’s high time the Land of the Morning Calm hosts a YouTube Gathering, and what better place than Seoul- the nation’s capital.

Come join myself and cohost Hyunwoo Sun (ever4one) as we host SeoulTube 2010 right on the Han river at Banpo Hangang Park.

We’re planning on starting around 5pm on September 25th, so bring some food and beverages to enjoy while meeting others that utilize our favorite site. So come one, come all to this gathering whether you make videos or just enjoy watching them!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been back in Korea for two weeks! Time really flies when you’re working 12-hour days during the summer intensive season. That being said, I’ve been spending a lot of my downtime working on the Philippine Travel videos. Today, I present the last in the series: Corregidor: Day Two.

As I noted in another post, this was by far the best day. Hiring the driver and getting a more personalized tour really made the experience for us. In this video, you can also see Jo ziplining down to the beach, which was so much fun.

I’d also like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of my travel videos. It really means a lot. I simply enjoy making them and look forward to making more and more travel-vlogs and travel-shows in the future.

Here we are… the final entry in the series. This is where it all comes together: Editing.

Believe it or not, this is the most fun and challenging part of the process. Once you have all your footage sorted and music chosen, it’s now time to package it. When I first started making videos, chronicling my travels, I used to use every bit of footage.

I mean, if I took an hour of footage at a palace, I would end up using most of it. The result was a good video, but very long. This might be great if you’re making a long video for television or a short movie, but since my broadcast medium is YouTube, videos longer than 5 minutes usually don’t do well.

That’s the reason this past year, I’ve really had to make some tough calls when editing. I might have a great scene, but it doesn’t fit in the time I’ve allotted for the project. For example, in my Bataan video, I have a great clip of the clouds rolling past a window from atop the Shrine of Valor (Mt. Samat), but it didn’t fit within the video scheme, so I cut it. It was a tough call, but something that had to be done. Doing this is key, since it really places you in the chair of your potential viewer. When the entire process is over, you should not only be proud of your video, but be excited to watch it (time and time again). So only pick the very best of your clips to tell the story. If the clip is great, but doesn’t tell the story… it needs to be cut!

Once you’ve completed your edits and you have your project rendered, watch it a few times to make sure it flows like you want it to. If it doesn’t, go back and make some changes to get it to where you want it to be. The final step is to de-interlace the video.

THIS IS KEY and a personal pet-peeve of mine. While videos shot in 720p or 1080p are by default de-interlaced, some titles and sped-up or slowed-down footage may not be. The end result is a distracting experience to the viewer. I see this all the time on YouTube and it instantly makes me want to click off. What still surprises me is when I’ve seen it in professional circles.

I hope this short series was helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Founded in 2005, Little Travellers assists the Hillcrest HIV/AIDS Center in South Africa. The Korean chapter held an exciting scavenger hunt in Seoul on July 10th to help raise funds. I teamed up with “Chris in South Korea” to tackle from of the more difficult tasks. It was an amazing day and we met some great people along the way.